Friday, September 19, 2014

it's been almost two years since this blog went silent, which not so coincidentally, is almost two years since I found out everything was changing.that's almost two years since i suddenly could only stomach pasta with butter, plain slices of bread and tortillas topped with melted cheese. it's almost two years since i started hating the smell and taste of vegetables and began an intense love affair with all things fruit.it's just over 15 months since we met easton:

photo: kristendriscollphotography.com

it's been just over 15 months since i no longer was so interested in eating and worried that i'd never figure out how to possibly cook again with this new responsibility.and, it's been just two weeks short of a year since i went back to work (with homemade cookies in hand!). have i been cooking? yes. has it been good? decently. but, cooking is now done in large batches, over the weekend, freezing teeny portions into ice cube trays, and larger portions in containers to make sure that we eat decently - without falling dependent on takeout - throughout the week. taking pictures seems silly and wasteful, while we're trying to finish as much as we can before our very active baby wakes up from her nap.but - i've missed this space, this recipe diary. and, i'm determined to come back, in some way.when i started to cook today, while the baby was in my arms and i was placing tiny fingerling sweet potatoes into a large pot, i thought, i should blog this. and because i haven't thought that in a very long time, I went with it. so, here we are. i'm not focusing on the fact that i'm writing in my car, on my phone, letting a very overtired baby finish her nap or that the pictures were taken with the very same phone and not my camera.and, maybe while i was trying to clean cilantro, to make this potato salad, this happened. but, whatever. i'm back.--last week, i picked up those adorable potatoes. and then, i ignored them. lest losing them the way too many pieces of produce have gone in the past, i woke up knowing they needed to be cooked before i let myself get back into bed.i'm in the midst of a sweet potato-miso-scallion obsession, so the plan was easy.once the potatoes were in the pot, i sprinkled them with a bit of salt and covered the lot with a couple inches of cold water. the lid went on, i brought the water to a boil and, then, let them cook for 5 minutes. when they were drained and cool enough to handle, i halved them lengthwise, placed them cut side-down on a very lightly oiled sheet pan. they roasted about 10 minutes, until they were tender and the skin started to pucker.meanwhile, i stirred together big scoops of tahini and white miso (about 1/4 cup of each), a decent splash of sesame oil, 4 spoonfuls warm water, a small palm-full of toasted sesame seeds and two quick shakes cayenne. into the bowl, i added 2 small bunches scallions that were cleaned, trimmed and sliced and a medium handful of that cleaned and chopped cilantro (stems and all). i did not stir.when the potatoes came out of the oven, i gave the pan a shake, dumped them into the bowl and let the whole thing sit for a few minutes before gently tossing together. and then, i scooped a few into a small bowl, took a picture and gave one to the baby, who quickly ate two more, and threw none of it on the floor.